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Friday, 2 January 2015

joyful for 2015

Happy
New Year, and all the best for 2015. Did you make any resolutions?

I'm
trying to live better; healthier and happier, in 2015. But I don't
want to wave a magic wand and change everything. I'm thinking that
slow and steady wins the race, so I'm taking on a few things one at a
time. I'm starting with sleep. Going to bed around 10pm each day and
avoiding internet rabbit holes, in an effort to eat less rubbish,
sleep better, and be better rested and more resilient, in the hope
that my skin and mood get better, and that I have more energy for fun
with my kids, and to do the things I'm passionate about, like
writing, and singing. I'll keep you updated on my progress here.

I'm
a typical Mum in that I tend to put everyone else's needs before
myself, but I don't want to be a whinging martyr (which is where I
sometimes end up), so in 2015 I'm also making time to do stuff just
for me. Making sure I get time to myself is the first thing. I'm
hopeless at asking for it (but sadly my husband has failed his
mind-reading exams), and this year I'm changing that. I'm not
just using this 'me' time for writing (although I am mainly!), but
also for getting me some joy.

You know when people say that exercise
brings them inner peace and happiness? Well, I don't get that.
Exercise brings me wobbling, chafing, and funny looks. The thing that
brings me happiness is singing, especially joining with others to
make a joyful noise, or a mournful noise, just any kind of harmonious
noise really.

I
go to Largs Community Choir (Largs is lucky enough to have several
choirs, but this is my favourite). I love it. You don't need to read
music, and Harry, our glorious leader, teaches us the songs through
repetition, which is surprisingly easy. There are some songs you may
have heard of before, and some you haven't. They're a welcoming bunch
and often go to the pub after (sometimes we even sing about it).

Largs Community Choir - they've made me stand in the middle, at the front! I didn't get this tall to stand at the front I tell you!

Choir
starts back for its regular slot at Brisbane Evangelical Hall
6.45-8.45pm on Thursday 22nd January, and it's only £20 for the ten
week term. But before that they're holding a workshop on Saturday
17th, 2-5pm, £20 on the door. There is room
for new members, so come along if you fancy a sing. If you're giving
the evening session a try your first week is free.Have you made any resolutions? And if you're near me, do you fancy coming to choir?

Sleeping

I'm writing this at 10.03pm, so I'll stop, go to bed, and finish it in the morning. See, I can do that!It's now morning, and I'm back. I have discovered from doing this that I seem to be hellbent on faffing around when I should be going to bed. That said, trying to go to bed at 10pm does seem to mean I get to sleep earlier than I was doing, which is great. I didn't feel any benefit from it at all to start off with though, and was absolutely shattered on New Year's Eve when I was planning to skip the new routine for a night but was just too tired to stay up for the bells. Family support though has meant that on the evening of the 1st I was not super-tired when it came to bedtime, and that made going to bed REALLY HARD. First I wanted to stay up writing this blog post, then I was taking a selfie with my cat (WHY?), and then I just had to read some nonsense on the internet (but there were pictures of trees). I finally started to read my book at 10.50pm, and I would like to note that I have been reading my book every night since I started doing this, and I love that. I always intend to read before bed, but generally run out of time. Now I'm motoring through the book I'm reading, plus getting inspired to write stuff myself (and if I want to come back to something I'm bookmarking it, with an actual bookmark, rather than writing it straight into Evernote).I don't know how much good this is doing yet, I'm certainly snacking less, but it'll need to be tested in the cold light of schoolday to see how I'm feeling then. So far I think I'm able to assert myself better, which is fab.